


Fireflies

by LovelyLadyLuck



Series: Pretty Lies and Ugly Truths: The Alderaan Days [2]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Adventures on Alderaan, Fluff, Gen, No Angst, Quinn's Catching Feels, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:28:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25988236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LovelyLadyLuck/pseuds/LovelyLadyLuck
Summary: The first time Malavai Quinn ever sees his Lady truly smile is when they encounter a strange creature in the Alderaanian mountains.
Relationships: Hints of Malavai Quinn/Female Sith Warrior, Malavai Quinn & Female Sith Warrior
Series: Pretty Lies and Ugly Truths: The Alderaan Days [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852507
Kudos: 16





	Fireflies

**Author's Note:**

> Can't sleep, so have some Malavai and Finlee fluff. At least my insomnia will benefit someone.
> 
> This takes place between chapters three and four of Pretty Lies and Ugly Truths, although you don't have to read that one to understand this one.

Focus character: Malavai  
Timeline: Alderaan, midway through  


They had been on Alderaan for several days now, and Malavai Quinn had mixed feelings about the planet, to say the least. On the one hand, it was resplendent in its natural beauty. The inhabitants had taken care to build with the landscape as much as they could in order to preserve it, and the relatively low population was mostly condensed around the large main estates and lands of the noble families, leaving most of the planet wild. And it was beautiful, in fact more so than any other he had ever seen, at least in his opinion. Mountain ranges with snow capped peaks dominated the horizon, with lush valleys between them home to dense forests or rolling fields of long grasses depending on the region. And in the lowlands where they had begun their stay, there were no shortage of large lakes and slow-moving rivers, while in the mountains and high steppes of the southern continent, there were many small, frigid streams and waterfalls. Large lakes were far less common in the higher elevations, but he had been told that the few that were present were breathtaking as well. The lack of movement from natural springs coupled with the freezing temperatures resulted in these mountain lakes being crystal clear, and one could see deep into the depths below.

On the other hand, the planet was home to the most odious, self-obsessed fools Quinn had ever had the misfortune to encounter. When his Lady had warned him before their first meeting with Duke Kendoh that this was the case, and that in order to get the Thul ass to cooperate they - well, she - were going to have to play along with the nobles game, he hadn’t wanted to believe it. Up until the very moment that they had presented themselves to the duke, he hadn’t. And then the duke had told his Lady that he hadn’t gathered the information they required, because without a reason to convince him that their mission was of true importance, his own goals would come first. Lady Irtaya had narrowed her eyes at that comment before telling the duke that perhaps a proper reason could be arranged. When the ass had leered at his Lady and crudely suggested that she give him this reason in private, the only thing that had prevented him from stepping forward and beating the spoiled oaf within an inch of his pathetic life had been the steadfast, calming presence of the Lady herself. She had rebuffed him, and stood still and calm as the overgrown toddler ordered his Sith guards to attack and kill them. The abject shock and fear on Kendoh’s face when that ploy had failed didn’t completely soothe the ire he had felt at the man’s proposition of his Lady, but it certainly helped.

The whole planet would be far more enjoyable, he thought as he drove their borrowed transport up the narrow, winding mountain path, if the majority of the noble population all spontaneously dropped dead of a plague. Then he could enjoy the scenic outdoor environment without having to constantly talk himself out of manslaughter whenever another noble ass insulted his Lady. He rather suspected that she would agree with him if he ever gave voice to that particular thought, but he chose to keep it to himself. Being forced to kowtow to the Alderaanian nobles and play along with their games had taken a toll on his Lady, and her normally steady and unruffleable temperament was becoming strained. The Alderaanians of course didn’t see it, and he didn’t think Vette did either, which was something of a surprise. But he had realized that he could recognize the near-imperceptible signs that his Lady was growing weary of this world, and its stunning beauty covering utter rot. There was nothing he could do about it, not in any tangible sense. He had decided that the best way he could try to help his Lady would be to do all he could to move their mission along faster, so they could leave this place that much sooner, and otherwise to simply stand close by her side whenever she had to meet with one of the nobles. The first night they had spent here, they weren’t able to return to the ship until well into the night. He had volunteered to take care of their rental speeder, and gently urged her to rest in the seat across from him while they drove. She had turned to him, nearly asleep, and said in a soft voice, “Thank you for being with me today, you can’t imagine how it helped.” He’d stared out the window for a long moment, frozen in place. She hadn’t mentioned it the next day, and he assumed she didn’t remember. Nevertheless, from that point on he made a point of accompanying her to meet with the stuffed shirts, and to always stand perhaps just a hair closer to her than was strictly necessary or proper, so that she could take some comfort in his presence, if indeed she did.

Thankfully, this day hadn’t involved any of the dreaded meetings with the nobles. He supposed he could technically count their encounter with Gesselle Organa, but she behaved as the military general she was rather than the aristocrat she had been, which made the whole thing much more bearable. The cost was that their assistance of Organa troops against the Ulgos had taken most of the day, and they were unable to return to their ship to sleep. They had to camp in the mountains overnight.

They had chosen to camp at the Eastern edge of the valley, against a particularly large boulder that offered some protection from the wind. Their small tent did the rest, as well as shelter from any precipitation that might occur. While his Lady and Vette raised the tent, he set up a perimeter of sensors to warn them of any approaching danger, both from other people and from the native wildlife. He didn’t fancy being eaten alive by a manka cat that night, thank you very much.

He began to build a fire as the sun went down, turning the surrounding mountains a greyish purple, and painting the sky a magnificent combination of red, orange, and yellow. It truly was the most beautiful planet he had ever been to. At one point he heard Vette and his Lady whispering to each other, but paid it no mind at first. He continued to ignore them for several more minutes in favor of the fire. It wasn’t until he heard his Lady gasping in astonishment and Vette began scrambling for her camera that he turned to look at whatever had caught their attention.

His eyes widened in disbelief. Their valley was now filled with small blinking lights, floating gently up and down over the tops of the long grasses. They surrounded their campsite, and stretched as far as they could see.

“What are they? Do either of you have any idea?” his Lady whispered reverently, completely in awe of the display in front of them.

Quinn could only shake his head. In all the preparation he had done for this mission, none of his sources had mentioned tiny floating lights in the mountains. Normally, he would have been rather miffed at that, but in that moment he was too taken in by the sight to care very much.

Vette scrunched up her face for a long moment, and then whispered to them, “I remember hearing about something like this when I was a kid. One of the pirates in the gang liked to tell us stories, and one of them was about something just like this. I think he said they were called...fireflies?”

“Fireflies,” his Lady breathed, rising from her seat on the log they had been using as furniture and coming to stand next to him. “They’re so beautiful! I can’t believe something like this is actually real!”

Quinn was vaguely aware of Vette announcing she wanted to catch one before running off into the meadow. He stood watching the fireflies with his Lady, uncaring of the passage of time, unaware of the cold. And then he felt a small touch on his elbow, heard Lady Irtaya whisper his name, and he turned to see that she had managed to coax one into landing on her hand. It was roughly the size of her littlest finger, with long orange wings it waved gently back and forth. The glow it produced came from the lowest section of its body, blinking on and off.

Ever so slowly, so as not to scare away the tiny creature, he brought his hands up underneath hers, cradling her hand in his larger palms. The firefly seemed totally unafraid of him as he bent closer to examine it. When he pulled back, lowering their hands but not ceasing the connection between them, he looked up at his Lady’s face, and saw that she wore a beatific smile of joyous wonder.

He stared at her now, rather than the firefly, and at the radiant smile she had. He didn’t know what was different about this moment, this smile, but he was sure something was. It wasn’t until she tore her eyes away from the little creature in her palm and turned that smile on him instead that the truth hit him like a punch in the gut: the difference between this moment and all the others, between this smile and the ones that came before, was that this one was real. It was only now, after nearly a year of traveling together, spending day in and day out together, sometimes not talking to anyone else for days at a time, that he was seeing her actually smile out of sheer happiness. The thought twisted his innards, and he shoved it away to the back of his mind, before returning her smile with one of his own. He found it less difficult to do so now, more natural, although he was still somewhat unused to the feeling. He hadn’t had anything to smile about for so long, but seeing his Lady’s face light up even more in response to it, he swore to himself that he’d do so more often, if for no other reason than so that she could see it. And then maybe she would smile a real smile again too.

**Author's Note:**

> They're just too flipping cute!


End file.
